Billfold retainer clip



Oct. 20, 1953 HATFIELD 7 2,655,705

BILLFOLD RETAINER CLIP Filed March 11, 1950 INVENTOR. PflBERT L. #4777610 A TTORNE YS Patented Oct. 20, 1953 BILLFOLD RETAINER our Robert L. Hatfield, East Orange, N. J., assignor to Nash Inc., Jersey City, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 11, 1950, Serial No. 149,119

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates generally to paper money bill-folds. In particular, it relates to devices for holding paper money neatly and securely in flatly-folded condition.

The device of the present invention includes a fold-over cover of any suitable material as leather, leatherette, plastic sheeting or the like, within which is secured a novel retainer clamp whereby sheets of paper money are held firmly within the cover, folded exactly in half, and securely held in such condition, in position within the margins of the fold-over cover. In the following description of an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, paper money will be referred to generally as bills.

The main object of the present invention is the provision of an elongated cover member foldable transversely along a center line, and a bill retaining clamp secured on an inner face of one fold of the cover adjacent the fold line, whereby bills placed in the clamp are folded transversely and medially, and firmly gripped in said position against displacement when the fold is flexed.

Among additional objects of the present invention are the provision of a retainer clamp comprising a normally flat sheet of spring metal having a finger formed therefrom extended along a longitudinal side of the sheet; the provision of a slit in the sheet extending inwardly a substantial distance from a longitudinal marginal side of the sheet and thence downwardly to a point short of the bottom edge, the slit defining a retainer finger, permitting insertion of the bills; the provision of a slit which is L-shaped or of reverse outline, whereby the outlined portion of the sheet forms a spring finger to cooperate with the cover to grip the bills therebetween.

Other and further objects of the present invention will in part be obvious, and in part specifically pointed out in the following description of an illustrative embodiment.

In the drawings annexed hereto, forming a formed of leather, leatherette, plastic sheeting or any other suitable material as desired. While, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, cover I2 is formed of two identically sized and shaped sections 16, is, clamped together as at 20, cover l2 may be formed of a single sheet of the chosen material. However formed, cover 12 may be folded transversely on itself, along a center line 22, in the direction of the arrows (Figure 1) whereby the inner faces 24, 26 of wing sections l6, [8 respectively may be brought substantially together, as seen in Figures 2 and 3. As will be readily understood, cover It may be limited in size and dimensioning only by convenience, and by the sizes of bills desired or intended to lie-disposed therewithin.

Retainer clamp 14, of my invention, is formed of a relatively thin, flat sheet of springy material, as metal, plastic sheeting or the like. The length of retainer clamp 14 is such as to fit within the height of cover l2. The width of retainer clamp It need be such as to provide a sufficiently operative finger 30 without weakening the body portion 32 thereof. As seen in Figure 1, a slit is stamped or otherwise formed in and through the body of clamp It, the slit having one leg component 34 thereof extending inwardly from a longitudinal marginal side edge of the clamp towards and short of the opposite side, communicating with a second leg component 36 extending downwardly, to a point short of the lower edge of the clamp. The finger 30, thus formed by the communicating slits 34, 36 from the body of the clamp, is spaced from the adjacent edge of the body along slit 36. In practice I have found that a width of the order of 3 is quite satisfactory. Finger 30, defined by the slittings, may be crimped or bent outwardly, as its base, as at 38 adjacent its connection with the body of the clamp, thereby tensioning finger 30 to lean towards the body. The free end of finger 30 may be bent outwardly, as seen at 40, to permit the insertion of bills into the slit.

Retainer clamp M is permanently secured to the inner face 24 of section 16, with the outer longitudinal edge of finger 30 disposed substantially along the transverse fold line 22. Securement may be by rivets or by any suitable adhesive material, the desiderata being the positioning of the clamp with the outer edge of the finger as closely adjacent the fold line as possible consistent with preventing bulging at the center when the cover is folded.

When inserting a bill or bills as B within the fold of my invention, cover I2 is opened to permit free access to clamp l l. Bill B is then inserted into slit 34 against the pressure of finger 30 towards section [6 and pushed or pulled down slit 36 until the lower edge or the bill or bills B rests against the lower edge 01' the leg 36, as at 50. The bill is then manually adjusted against the p ur o time: 80 to locate the ent r f he bill over fold line 12. Cover I! may then. e folded.

As will be seen from Figure 1, once the bill has been properly located, it will be firmly gripped and held against shifting in any direction be tween finger 30 and the cover. T e. inner edge of clamp I4 and finger 3!} lies adjacent center line 22. Thus, when the cover is opened, the bill will be held against any movement away from its initially fixed position. The retainer clamp is out of sight, inside the cover, when the cover is closed. The clamp is substantially fiat, and a number of bills s B may be disposed th rcwi h n i ut undue bulkiness, e au e ling r 30, is o raised substantial y by t e. presence. or b ls beh nd it, th hi l b ndin at, s it 6,,

i rtance or a. relatively wi e M 10 vars w n. a. numbe o bills. 3. of so ntial thickness. are disposed within my retainer. The s e, slit 1a1 ra esv to e uce b i and pa ti ularl a ong s i p n the in a shallow curve to prevent shearing and ra sing of, finger 30- The hick e s of la p dy M, is th fi utilized o, its iull xtent to receive the mas or the bills Ha ng n w. described m nv ti w t I d des re, to. secure by Lett rs at n A bill retainer clamp for securement in a billtold adjacent the fold line thereof, said clamp comprising an originally fiat elongated substantially rectangular blank of spring material, a right-angled slit therethrough, one leg of said slit extending inwardly from one long side edge thereoi paced fr m the top edg acr s th width at the that s rt 01' the ppo i e l ng side edge, the other leg of said slit extending downwardly and substantially parallel to the long sides to a point short of the bottom edge of the blank thereby fanning a finger portion and a main body portion, said finger portion being bent away from said main body portion at its juncture therewith and than NWISRU bent towards and past the plane 0! the main body portion to produce a grip- "ping bias for retention of the bill, and said finger portion being outwardly bent at its free end to form an outwardly proiecting end portion.

ROBT. L. HATFIELD.

References Cited in the file of th Da t! UNITED. STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 703,350 Nonnemaoher June 24, 1902 1,0 5,946 Cardwell Aug. 20, 1912 1,422,658 Brooks. July 11. 1922 1,5,162 McKenzie Aug. 11, 1925 1,599,292 Scavey Sept. 7. 1926 1,886,882 Huber Nov. 8,, 1932 2,335,903- Beckett Dec. '7, 1943 2,419,092 Behupbach at al Apr. 15, 194'! 2,455,515' Miller Dec. 7, i948 

